Passing Notes
by yourLastLove
Summary: When Draco chooses a seat next to Hermione in Defense Against the Dark Arts, there can only be some deeper meaning behind it... But is this meaning good or bad? Disclaimer!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So here's a one shot that could turn into a longer story if it does well enough... right now I only have one scene playing out in my head, and a teeny tiny subplot. Not right well good enough for an actual story! Tell me what you think! Feedback greatly appreciated! PS, my first HP fanfiction ever... Not following the same story line as the book exactly, so don't get too confused... Enjoy! *:**

Harry and Ron sat at their shared table in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, there were precisely two minutes and thirty four seconds until class would begin. This class, taught by Professor Severus Snape, was shared between the Gryffendor and Slytherin sixth year students. It was apparent to not only the two best friends, but the Gryffendor house as a whole, that what was originally a favorite class, was now a much dreaded prison. Every year this class had had a teacher that could not stay for longer than the semester, because they were either in some way evil, or just happened to be a werewolf. They now had ended up with Snape, a teacher hated by anyone who wasn't either Dumbledor or a Slytherin student.

Across from the boys, Hermione sat, quill ready, parchment unfolded and book opened to the page that she somehow knew to turn to. As more students shuffled in, the frizzy haired girl turned in her seat to find her friend Neville Longbottom, who she'd been tutoring for the past month and three quarters. As she grinned and waved him over, she was shocked and her smile faded, making way for dismay when a certain blond, who just so happened to _not_ be Neville, sat down beside her. His appearance was casual as he bent down to remove his things from his bag, setting them out on the table carelessly.

She watched him for a moment, disbelief holding her mind. The rest of the class noticed as well, but were less determined to get to the bottom of this (Harry and Ron aside of course, who stared angrily at Draco Malfoy until the class had officially begun).

"What are you doing?" Hermione whispered angrily under her breath as Snape made the introduction to today's lesson.

Malfoy didn't answer her; instead he only glanced in her direction briefly in acknowledgement, no emotion present on his face, and returned his attention to Professor Snape, his personal favorite teacher.

Snape stood, speaking about Vampire's and how to fend them off, at the front of the class. Greasy black hair parted down the middle, large nose pointed slightly upward in an overly confident "better than you" sort of way. He seemed to not notice the two students at the front and center of the class not paying attention to a word he was saying.

"Why are you sitting here?" She whispered again, anger filling in for the shock.

Malfoy continued to ignore her, taking notes on what Snape was saying, ignoring the death glare coming from the heated girl beside him.

As the class went on, a note was slipped onto Hermione's notebook. A note from Draco which read _Be careful._

"Be careful?" She whispered aloud. "Are you threatening me?" Her voice was too loud and Malfoy stomped down on her foot in efforts to silence her. Snape still appeared to take no notice of the two.

In seconds, another note was slipped in front of her. _I can't explain now, you're in trouble._

Hermione felt a flash of cold run through her, settling in her stomach like ice, blood running cold. She stared at the note, face paled and eyes drying. Her attention was pulled away from it when she felt his pinky finger, ever so subtly so that no one else would notice, pressing down on her own pinky finger.

_What do you mean?_ She wrote back, feeling her eyes prick with tears that she tried with great effort to hold back.

_I just need you to trust me; don't go back to your common room tonight._

Suddenly even more suspicious, Hermione slapped the note back onto his half of the desk, and forcing her attention back to the lesson.

_Please._ Another note was placed in front of her. In response, she flung herself around to glare at him more sternly, an expression that might have intimidated even the most powerful of men, for an angry teenage girl is nothing to involve yourself with. Her warning almost fell when she saw Malfoy's own expression, concerned and pleading. He stared into her eyes as if he were begging, and for a moment she wondered if he truly were trying to help her. The thought was only brief though as she decided that he was probably trying to sabotage her or save his own skin.

_They're planning something against you to get to Harry. Please listen._

More curious than anything, she wrote back. _Talk._

She might have been mistaken, but she thought she heard the boy sigh from beside her, releasing the breath he appeared now to be holding.

_I can't explain here. Hide in the Dark Forest tonight, we'll come find you when it's safe._

"Ridiculous," Hermione muttered to herself, rolling her eyes. Of course he'd want her to go there. Sabotage was right.

"Please," he whispered to her, voice desperate. For some reason, Hermione decided that she would listen. For whatever reason, she would not stay in her dorm tonight. But she sure as hell would not go into the forest.

_I'll get you when it's safe._ He wrote her, in hopes that she would do as he asked. Hermione smiled slightly in response, and his finger pressed down even harder on hers, a silent thanks.

Across from them, Harry and Ron tried to pay hear every word that was being passed between their friend and their enemy, with no luck at all. They were mumbling so quietly beneath Snape's curling ugly words. Rage filled them both as they watched, because for the rest of the class, even though Hermione focused on the lesson and took pages and pages of notes, Malfoy sat watching her, not very discretely, with barely concealed emotion on his face. Was that... Fear? Concern? What had they been speaking about?

Hermione finally met their gaze, and nodded, letting them know she'd tell them everything as soon as class was over and they were back in the common room.

_Don't tell them._ Draco wrote her again. _No good will come to them if you say a word. _

Fear encompassing her for the nth time in that hour, she nodded slightly, determined to keep her friends out of trouble even if it meant putting herself in danger. She didn't think for a second that they couldn't protect her, but with everything going on, she decided to take on this one battle on her own.

_Thank you, you'll be safe I promise._

**A/N: So there it is! Not too long, not too brief, hope you enjoyed it!**


	2. Chapter 2

Hermione had hardly said a word to her friends all day, not wanting to tell them a thing about what was going to happen tonight. Actually, the sun had already begun to set, and she had been sitting on a log now for over an hour, and she hadn't had the slightest clue as to how long she'd have to wait! Draco hadn't given her any of the details.

As much as her seat was very uncomfortable, and her legs had fallen asleep multiple times, and her fingers were numb with cold, she wasn't bored in the slightest. She'd brought many things with her to keep her company and to keep her mind occupied off of whatever would be happening that night. She had multiple books on Muggle History, Charms, Transfiguration, one very long one that would be boring to anyone else about the difference between Hexes, Jinxes, and Curses, and another on different kinds of Pixies. She's also brought out some homework for Potions, and all the equipment she would need to write a fifty page essay on her favorite type of fungi – which wasn't due until the end of the year. There she sat, about forty metres away from the edge of the dark forest, quill in one hand, and a lit up wand in the other. She was taking vigorous notes right then on a specific effect of a certain Hex, one that she wasn't even sure existed. Her mind was working hard, reading this sentence and that, jotting down notes here and there, covering the page in messy scribble while she tried to soak up as much information as a witch her age possibly could without magical help.

She was just about to finish the one hundred and two page chapter when she heard a twig snap nearby. Immediately she dropped the book to her side and stood up, want illuminating the woods around her. She didn't see anything. After a few moments she decided that it was probably some gnome wandering around, or an owl snatching up a mouse, and so she returned to her book. Panicking about almost being out of parchment – even though she'd brought nearly a hundred pages – she almost didn't hear the snapping noise which came from even closer that time. Standing again, wand trying it's hardest to find the source of the noise for her, she spun in circles, watching each tree carefully before settling herself back down, although, _this _time, a little bit more cautiously.

After a number of moments of silence, she slowly turned her eyes back to the final page of the chapter when the behind the log she was sitting on, there was a loud _thud_. She whipped her head around fast enough to hurt her neck and raised her wand towards the owner of the sound.

Standing not even two inches away from her was what could only be, a very thirsty vampire.

It inched its face closer to hers, and for some reason, she found that she couldn't move away. She could feel its breath, hot on her face. She closed her eyes as she awaited the bite, but it never came. Instead there was a bright light lighting up her eyelids. When she opened them, she saw the vampire picking itself up off the ground, looking at its surroundings as if it couldn't remember why it had come, and then wander off into the forest.

Hermione was lost for words. She stared after the creature, watching it sway and weave its way through the trees, before it disappeared completely into the blackness.

"Close call," startled again, she turned herself around quickly, feeling the tension in her neck that she'd already created the last time something had startled her only a few seconds prior.

"Oh!" She gasped, brown curls bouncing around her shoulders as she jumped back.

"Gotta be careful with those, they'll suck you dry. Selfish little bastards can't leave anything left for you to survive off of."

Draco was now taking Hermione's seat on the log, staring at the various books and parchment sprawled out across the dirt and leaves.

"You really do come prepared, don't you?" Malfoy noted, eyeing her notes.

"I didn't know how long I'd be out here," she answered when she could finally find her voice.

Draco put the paper into the opened book which now had a nice coating of leaf dust and one tiny little bug wandering on top of it, and shut the book, using the pages of notes as a bookmark. The book happened to be so big, that the seventy eight pages didn't seem to make much difference to the old binding. Looking up, he met her eyes carefully. "It'll be alright to go back soon, although we should wait a little bit just to make sure. I want everyone to be back inside their beds before I take you back."

Hermione nodded, accepting this easily. She'd already been out there long enough that her nose and cheeks were red, and her hair and socks had become damp from the cold night air inside the trees, a few more minutes wouldn't make a difference. "Could you tell me why I've been out here now?" She asked politely, though the demand wasn't so subtle.

"I will," he agreed, sorting her books for her into a neat pile, largest at the bottom and smallest on the top, making them easier to carry no doubt. "How was your night out here? Run into any boogiemen?"

"Only the one you saw," she hadn't missed that Draco hadn't given her an answer. "Did you see why he went away?"

"Oh yeah, memory charm. Works like magic." He winked.

**A/N: Sorry, short and uneventful chapter. I've been sick all day but I really wanted to post something... I'll make it up to you all I promise. Where do you think this is going? Any ideas as to what's going to happen next? I'll have the next chapter up soon; hopefully I'll be better so it can actually make a little sense... Until next time! R&R please?**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Ok guys, I wasn't sure before, but I have a plot set! Went to bed with my fever (which is finally gone YES!) and woke up with an idea I can certainly run with! Hope you enjoy! (: If you see this going somewhere, feel free to share your ideas, I'll gladly try to incorporate them. (:**

"You're cold," Draco said, reaching for her arm to pull her towards him on the log. He'd noticed her shivering slightly and rubbing her hands together.

"I'm fine," Hermione shifted herself away from his touch, unsure of his intentions at all as he still hadn't explained why she was out there in the first place.

"Don't be silly, come on. It's not like you haven't touched me before now." He reprimanded, watching her pull her cloak tighter around herself.

She remembered. Of course she did. "What was that, third year when you refrained from calling me _mudblood _for a whole ten minutes?" She almost smirked.

He rolled his eyes. "Hey, that's not fair; I hadn't called you a mudblood all day." He quipped, grinning.

It was outside Care of Magical Creatures class, the time they were discussing, when Draco had been bothering Harry about the dementors. Of course, he and Crabbe and Goyle had been covering themselves with their robes and "oohing" like ghosts, mocking Harry for his fear of something that not a single wizard on the planet was not afraid of.

Hermione had stepped in, walking straight up to Malfoy, calmly, and with a smile telling him that _'you really shouldn't act like such a tool, Malfoy. You'd do a lot better around here if you'd just-'_ of course he had cut her off, grabbing her by the upper arms as she approached them, and turning her around so that he was no longer facing the crowd. For some reason, he was very gentle, she could have moved away had she so chosen, but curiosity and a willingness to encourage any sort of good behavior from the blond was keeping her where she was. He walked her backwards, dropping his head down to speak quietly with her, hands only holding tightly enough to keep her from tripping over sticks and stones.

_ 'It'd be best if you didn't call me out, Granger, _you'd _do a lot better around here if you'd just follow the hierarchy.' _He had said.

_'What hierarchy? The one you made up so that you'd come out on top?'_

The conversation had grown darker then, and his fingers had flexed slightly, crinkling her shirt for just the slightest moment before he relaxed again. He didn't take his hands away for a second though while they spoke. Harry and Ron were obviously causing a scene about it behind him, but that matter did not require his attention at that moment, his two very large friends could obviously handle some skinny little children. _'Trust me; you'll be safer if you just let me do my thing, you understand?'_

_ 'No.'_

Of course she had been very difficult, something he chuckled about even then. _'Granger, just remember to stroke the side.'_ He winked before dropping his arms and taking a step back, leaving Hermione to walk back to her friends.

"You were very odd that day," Hermione noted, conceding to him as he tried again to pull her closer, wrapping his cloak around the two of them.

"You were too. You were so calm, I didn't understand it."

"Is that why you were nice?" She asked, shivering subsiding as she let their mixed warmth soothe her.

He chuckled darkly. "No, I'm always nice," he said, knowing she would scoff, which she did. "I have nothing against _you_, Granger, as you can see I'm keeping you safe right now."

She turned in his cloak to face him. "No, no I don't see. I don't know what danger your keeping me from, you know, you could be setting me up to get eaten by some kind of forest monster."

He laughed again, this time with a genuine smile. "Forest monster, is that the best you could come up with," he continued to laugh. "Granger, it's your friends I have an issue with. If you weren't around them all the time I probably would never have called you names."

She mumbled to herself and pulled his cloak tighter; causing his hands to slip over her arms the same way they had that other time. He didn't pull away; he let his fingers linger there. "So why are you helping me? I mean, if that's what you're doing."

Draco sighed. "You're Harry Potter's best friend," he sneered, "Of course you're a target."

"A target of _whom_?" She asked, frustrated.

"Of _everyone_, don't you see? The school is half filled with Death Eater's children by now and half of them are beginning to work for the Dark Lord and you being who you are and what you are, are the perfect thing they could use to make an example of." He took a much needed breath after having not breathed at all during his spiel. He was glad when Hermione seemed to contemplate this.

"You mean..." She didn't finish, instead she went back to their shared memory, clearly having come to her own conclusions and no longer wanting to discuss the matter. "Why weren't you angry with me when I confronted you? Why did you pull me away?"

"I wanted to talk to you."

"We hardly spoke-"

"I know," he cut off, waving away the words from beneath the dark cloak. "I just... I don't know. Like I said, Granger, I never disliked you; you seem like a very smart interesting girl, who could probably hold a very decent conversation."

She didn't respond, she just let the words linger in the air.

It took a number of moments in that uncomfortable silence before he spoke again, voice cold and void of emotion. "They were going to grab you." He said simply, and then continued. "They were going to hold you down and curse you, and carve _Voldemort _into your arms." She tensed against him, obviously not enjoying this knowledge. "Then they were just going to leave you there, not care about what happened. Let you bleed to death maybe, or someone would eventually find you I suppose, didn't matter to them. What's Dumbledore going to do? Expel the entire Slytherin house?"

"The _whole _Slytherin house?" She asked with wide eyes.

"Might as well be." He shrugged. "We can probably go back now."

They stood and illuminated their paths with their wands, each carrying a number of Hermione's books. He didn't leave her side until she was safely in front of the portrait hole leading to the Gryffindor common room. His eyes had increasingly been darting around, looking for anyone who might see them, portraits included. But she was safe now, for now... and he possibly wasn't, but he could deal with that later.

"Thank you," she said, turning to face him before stepping through the hole. "If what you said is true... Thank you." He nodded, watched her climb through, and then turned on his heel to head back to the dungeons. He'd succeeded.


	4. Chapter 4

Class that day was interesting; Hermione sat beside Ron, Harry beside Seamus, their assigned desk partners for this class. They had been asked to find a partner that they did not usually work with and to please sit together for the remainder f the assignment. As Harry and Ron were usually together, and Hermione and Neville, a switch was in order. Hermione groaned inwardly when Ron had jumped on the chance to be partnered with her. Not that she minded Ron's company – the two were great friends – it was just that she would end up doing both their parts. The work piece was simple enough. They had to prepare a class, a full lecture, on a topic of their choice related to the _Defense Against the Dark Arts. _Hermione wanted to talk to the students about counter curses. Ron though, wanted to teach the students _how_ to curse in the first place, stating that the first step of self defense was to be able to shoot your attacker's shit right back at them. This project was going to go along just splendidly...

From across the room, Snape observed the students, watching them each closely. A stack of papers lay on the desk, waiting to be marked, and black drops where ink had spilt from his quill. He finally had the position of his dreams, and he was reveling in it.

Hermione did her best not to attract any attention from the wizard at the front of the room, still unsure of how she was supposed to act toward him. It had been made clear t her that her ex-potions teacher and ex-sworn enemy was an indispensable member of the order, though it would certainly take a while to change that many years of beliefs about a person. She watched him idly scan his eyes across the room, watching his group of students brainstorm excitedly, enjoying the freedom of this assignment. His eyes paused when they got to Harry, features turning into a badly hidden scowl, and Hermione froze, instincts still strongly opposing the man. She tried to look over to her friend as subtly as was possible, only to quickly realize why the professor had been so put off. Really, she would be to if her students were loudly gossiping about the latest in the Quidditch world. Hermione rolled her eyes and tried t return her focus to the ever babbling Ron, talking animatedly about all the different curses they could try (he'd probably realize the safety hazard later on). The girl strongly felt that he should just let her choose the topic since she'd be doing all the work anyway. Ron was stubborn though – but perhaps... not as stubborn as the nagging feeling at the back of one's mind that insists someone (or something) is watching you...

Hermione turned around, immediately locking eyes with the culprit. Instead of looking away sheepishly like she would have expected, her observer mustered up a glamorous wink before looking down and returning his quill to his page. With a roll of her eyes, she returned her focus, once again, to the red haired boy, who seemed to not have noticed her lack of attention. She turned around again, ever so slightly to check on the boy who had been watching her before, only to see him watching her again. When he caught her eye for the second time, he only grinned widely – she wasn't sure what the grin meant – and then shook his head, still grinning, and returned again to his work.

Before class had ended, they had gone through this dance a number of times, each encounter becoming worse and worse until the poor girl had blushed very badly before making the mental agreement with herself to _not_ turn around again. She hadn't spoken to Malfoy since their little escapade into the dark forest. He had not updated her on the issue, or made any moves to speak to her again. Until now of course. Not that he was speaking to her... or that she had any intension of speaking to him...

The end of class was signaled and the students shuffled out, talking excitedly to one another. The hall was filled with teens of all ages, heading down to lunch. Of course, Ron had gone to catch up with Harry, and Hermione had stayed behind, insisting that she would probably make a quick stop at the library before she caught up with them in the great hall. She was walking towards the stairs when she heard snickering, and –whoops- turned her head to see where the sound had come from. A group of Slytherins hovered at the wall, watching her, snickering and whispering to one another. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she could have sworn she'd heard a "stupid mudblood" escape Malfoy's lips as he smirked, watching her with his idiot friends.

Hermione flushed, glaring at the floor as she rushed passed them, in no mood whatsoever to make a scene. Her feet stomped down the gray hallway, and she almost thought steam would pour out of her ears with the effort she was making to keep moving forward, and not give Malfoy a piece of her mind.

"Hey, you," a voice called from behind her. _Great_. She ignored it. "Wait!" It called again, and the footsteps hurried up behind her. She quickened her own pace. "Granger!" The voice shouted, and a hand tugged the sleeve of her robes.

Swiftly, she had turned around, wand stuck out in front of her, hardly a half inch away from poking itself right into the center of the blonde's nose. He looked very surprised, much to the witches glee, as he stared cross eyed at the wooden tip. Scoffing, he pushed her arm back.

"Put that away, Granger." His voice was cool, but his expression revealed the offense he took at her actions.

"What do you want, stupid _pureblood_." She snapped, drawing herself up for the obvious fight that was about to occur.

"Sorry," he smirked again. "Keeping up appearances." She grunted and turned around, walking away again, ever so quickly. "Hey now," he said, keeping up with little effort. "I said I was sorry."

"Like that means anything."

He chuckled once, shaking his head. "You know I have to do it, Granger." He said.

She stopped moving, and stared straight ahead, voice dark. "No I don't."

"Oh please-"

"No," she interrupted. "You _might _have helped me once, but you haven't made an effort at all to speak to me or hardly even acknowledge me since then, and then of course you just _have _to be an arse along with the rest of your stupid bloody house and-"

It was his turn to interrupt. "Granger!" He said sternly, voice loud t be heard over hers. "You have no idea what you're talking about!" She huffed off again, and again, he pulled up beside her. "What are you doing your project on?" He asked innocently.

"Why do you care?"

"I'm curious."

"Well, Mr Malfoy, if you were so curious, then _you _should have partnered with me." She tried to speed up again, but still he kept up.

"Please, Granger, not in a million years."

She turned and scowled at him, seeing his eyes to be teasing. "Because I'm a mudblood."

It was a statement that seemed to slam Malfoy hard. He reached out and wrapped his fingers around her arm and pulled her back to him, not allowing her to walk away. He stared down at her angrily, eyes dark and focused. "I don't have a choice," he said slowly, enunciating each word carefully. "You silly bint." She tried to pull away but he didn't let her. "I'm trying to help you." His voice was confident and left no room for argument. She tried to fight his grasp again, but gave up, frustrated and defeated.

"What do you _want_, Malfoy?" She said quietly, staring up at him with hard yet damaged eyes.

His face softened. "I just wanted to see how you are." He said simply, relaxing his hand around her, not letting go completely.

She sighed. "I'm fine."

"That's good," he gave her a small smile. "Were you headed to the library? Aren't you hungry?"

She didn't say anything for a moment, and then gave her own slight smile when she conceded to him. "Honestly," she began. "I just wanted a minute away from Ron."

Malfoy's smile widened as he let go and guided her in the direction she was headed. "So... Not necessarily the library then?" He asked. She looked at him suspiciously and if it were possible, his grin widened again.

She couldn't tell if the look in his eye was mischievous or what it was... but he suddenly was dragging her down the hall, moving just as fast as they had been. She was stumbling behind him down the steps that lead t the dungeon, nearly slipping on the slime that had been sprayed across the floors.

"Peeves..." Malfoy muttered but kept up his brisk walk. Suddenly Hermione was flung into an empty classroom and the door was slammed shut. Surprised, she took a step back and looked around, they were in the potions classroom. Memories f Snape's teaching came rushing into her mind before she remembered to be suspicious. She turned on Malfoy, eyeing him with distrust.

**A/N: So... There's a new chapter... What do you think happens next? :D Lemme know what you think!**


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